Dad Howard, his tiller and the dozer-house a few years ago #TBT

| April 30, 2015

Since I’ve been negotiating these past couple of weeks in selling my mother-in-law’s farmhouse and property, it seemed appropriate to post a Throw Back Thursday (#TBT) photo of Dad Howard in his gardening attire.   We are close to having a signed contract and are entering the inspections phase along with financing approval and wondering […]

Sailing and small repairs continue on our sailboat Encore

| April 29, 2015

While enjoying some time day-sailing aboard Encore this past week, I squeezed in a couple of repair projects. First I replace the plywood shelf in our lazerette with a new 2×2 X-braced shelf. I really wanted to add a couple coats of paint to protect it from moisture and dripping water, but a single sprayed […]

Does our Zodiac inflatable really look like a manatee?

| April 28, 2015

A friendly manatee visiting Encore and our Zodiac inflatable. 🙂

Audi Has Made Diesel From Water And Carbon Dioxide

| April 27, 2015

It’s the holy grail in energy production: produce a fuel that is both carbon neutral and can be poured directly into our current cars without the need to retrofit. There are scores of companies out there trying to do just that using vegetable oil, algae, and even the microbes found in panda poop to turn […]

Life is good …

| April 25, 2015

We are so fortunate to have great kids, steady employment and the flexibility to escape once in a while to enjoy the fruits of our labor … AND to recharge our batteries for a few days. Taylor flew down to Florida from North Dakota and met up with Miami University friend Paul for the weekend […]

Archiving a few Westerly Corsair links

| April 24, 2015

Adding an older (2012) video from a boat broker from Europe as it is always good to see other Westerly Corsairs.

The Tale of Two Puppets

| April 23, 2015

Just filling space today … but I thought the resemblance between Jeff Durham‘s “dummy” Walter and President Obama‘s Joe Biden was amazing. (it made me chuckle, no offense intended)

Tip: Cover sharp edges of cotter pins with a blob of silicone

| April 22, 2015

Every once in a while I run across a good idea and save the tool tip. I don’t recall which sailing magazine or source I clipped this to my iPad in, but wanted to archive to my blog. I’ve noticed a few purchased products with a silicone blob on electrical connections, but adding a little […]

Alphabetic odds for becoming President of the United States

| April 21, 2015

If by fate, your last name begins with a letter in the second half of the alphabet, you may be at a disadvantage when it comes to being elected to public office? A unscientific look at a list of past U.S. Presidents one think that there might be more than just a legacy advantage to […]

The Cincinnati renaissance is impressive

| April 20, 2015

I spent Sunday afternoon with my son Taylor while he was back home visiting from North Dakota on a cloudy and rainy afternoon. He was my tour guide and gave me the updates on the projects and investment that is helping to revitalize Cincinnati. As a suburban guy, I was impressed to see “our home […]

Spending Saturday afternoon with grandpa

| April 19, 2015

My son Taylor was home from North Dakota for a few days and besides reconnecting with a bunch of his friends in revitalized urban Cincinnati, he spent Saturday afternoon with me in Sidney visiting with my dad. Grandpa gave Taylor the tour of his new “assisted living” senior home, Lane Park, and we has some […]

The original BLUE Dawn Dishwashing Liquid

| April 18, 2015

If you’ve been around our house much, you will notice that we always have Dawn Dishwashing Liquid around. It has become our go to product for things other than dishes (use it for that too) as a hand wash, a degreaser and as a way to remove poison ivy oils after working in the yard. […]

Personal: We moved my dad from rehab to assisted living

| April 17, 2015

I don’t think many of us are properly prepared to make the decisions that are needed to care for elderly parents. Even though my brother and I have been through medical needs, nursing and then hospice care for my mom, we were still not knowledgeable when it came to handling dad. Thankfully, if you have […]

Wouldn’t it be nice to see the El Camino in production again?

| April 16, 2015

When I was in college I worked for a contractor who drove a car-based truck called the El Camino – it was usually seen hauling around a few missing items he had just picked up for the latest project. As I recall, it wasn’t the greatest car … or truck … but to me it […]

One of the more interesting Health Care discussions …

| April 15, 2015

NPR’s Tom Ashbrook entertained an interesting discussion around the Cadillac plan tax which is part of Obamacare. If you’ve notice changes in your plan (just as colleges have), you will understand the emotions in the discussion. Well worth listening too … and yes, I’m a conservative who sometimes listens to NPR.   NPR Tom Ashbrook […]

Creativity, engineering, design and modern woodworking

| April 14, 2015

How cool is this project and design? Check out Manifattura Italiana Design or for more images look at DesignBoom.com’s post.  

SpaceX Dragon CRS-6 launch postponed due to weather

| April 13, 2015

It was interesting while it lasted … the launch of the SpaceX Dragon CRS-6 Falcon9 was scrubbed this afternoon and scheduled for tomorrow, April 14 at 4:10PM; weather could be a problem again. My daughter Katelyn and her husband Drew were at Kennedy Space Center (photo below) to watch it on their 2nd wedding anniversary […]

Debating the Apple Store App review process – Medium article

| April 13, 2015

An article in published in an online story on Medium this past week shared the growing discontent from software developers over Apple’s dominance and authoritative control over “app” reviews. Dave Kushal believes that the slow review process hurts the reliability as well as “impedes the pace of innovation.”  While I’m somewhat in agreement with Dave, […]

Selling coupons on eBay … very entrepreneurial

| April 12, 2015

Selling coupons on ebay is very entrepreneurial. While I’m not a regular ebay seller, I often check prices and buy parts for cars and the boat. When my search screen stated to display pages of ads “selling discount coupons,” it sounded crazy. But people must be finding a market for clipping and selling those unique […]

When pigs (or pugs) fly …

| April 11, 2015

Perhaps there is a little innovative Cincinnati (Porkopolis) marketing inspiration here?

Americans have a positive outlook for a rich country

| April 10, 2015

Jared Keller’s article in The Atlantic last month focused on the observation that “outside the U.S., fewer people in rich countries describe their day as a good day.”  For the most part, Americans are hopeful and optimistic as compared to their peer in other first world countries. (the graphic below is interesting on several levels) […]

These Great White Sharks could use a little Botox treatment

| April 9, 2015

Nothing like being it the water while photographing Great White Sharks to get your heart pumping and adrenaline flowing (hopefully in a cage). With views this close (click for slightly larger) you can even count the freckles or maybe get a price for Botox! A school teacher, Amanda Brewer, took this picture while cage-diving in […]

Impressive sky after the thunderstorms passes tonight

| April 8, 2015

The spring thunderstorms are right on time now that we’re into April and decided to give the new LIVE broadcasting app called Periscope a try. Unfortunately capturing lightning on an iPhone is not as easy as one would think. Below is a file save from the short live broadcast stream.

An update on my dad …

| April 8, 2015

Our family has been pretty focused lately on my dad's declining health and I know a few of my parents' friends who check my blog might appreciate a short update. After a brief hospital stay in February for two fractures in his pelvis after a fall, DadC entered rehab near my brother Ron's house in […]

Job openings are up … but hirings are down

| April 8, 2015

Very confusing numbers in a recent Wall Street Journal graph noting that the number of job openings being posted are way up (green line) … up to the highest level in 14 years. That’s good news right? Unfortunately a look at the red line shows the number of hiring. Hmm, that trend has moved down, […]

Those pesky geese are looking for a place to lay their eggs

| April 7, 2015

It’s the time of year when our neighborhood ducks and geese look for a place to nest, while being pretty annoying … especially when depositing their “lovely droppings” all over the driveway, road and OUR ROOF. Who knows why our dog Tootsie thinks they are “dog treats,” but just like worms after a rain, she […]

Adirondack chairs for woodworkers who drink wine

| April 6, 2015

Hmm … I just might have some work to do in modifying our Adirondack chairs before the spring and summer sitting season arrives! Pretty creative modification (or conversation starter) if you ask me! In my spare time (cough, cough) … I could even build a couple extra chairs and see if there was interest from […]

Archive: Cape Horn Self Steering and degrading plastic

| April 6, 2015

There are several issues to address before gaining much confidence in our existing non-electric Cape Horn Self Steering gear … first and foremost is that I’m missing both the light and heavy air windvanes. These are the vanes which set the course based on wind direction and transfer the “off-track” detection to the paddle which […]

Archive: Encore improvements and repairs from March 2015

| April 5, 2015

The advantage of having a “desultory” blog is that  I can archive any and everything without guilt. This post includes a collection of photos from last weekends’ projects aboard Encore. First, I added a small semi-permanent shelf to the galley for our Sodastream device. Although I haven’t convinced Brenda to give up her cans of […]

He has risen – Happy Easter 2015

| April 5, 2015

Jesus Has Risen 1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were wondering […]

Follow-up on Periscope and Meerkat live broadcasting

| April 4, 2015

I watched several broadcasts from the new iOS app introduced this past week called Periscope. It enables iPhone/iPad users to broadcast live video to other “socially networked” viewers (Twitter) just as with the early competitor app MeerKat. Periscope differs slightly as it saves an archive for 24 hours or until deleted (not possible with MeerKat) […]

Social networking, a show of support and our changing values

| April 3, 2015

No matter which side of the political tug-of-war you are on when debating “marriage,” there is something distasteful about using ordinary people as political fodder. Crystal O’Connor was one such naive pawn used for divisive purposes as Indiana’s Governor Mike Pence tiptoed around modifying the Religious Freedom Restoration Act know as Senate Bill 568. The national media and LGBT activists highlighted O’Connor’s Christian opinions regarding “providing […]

TechFriday: Reject and block annoying phone calls

| April 3, 2015

Ok … so you’ve done your part and registered your phone numbers with the National Do Not Call List and you’ve done your best to keep phone numbers from undesirables … BUT you’re still getting annoying calls (and text messages!) Below is the new (1) iPhone (Settings>Phone>Blocking) method to block phone numbers from your smartphone […]

Video: Miami University (Ohio) Aerial Campus Tour

| April 2, 2015

If you are interested in or an alum, you’ll love visiting Miami University in this way …

Who doesn’t have a favorite photo on their desk? #TBT

| April 2, 2015

One would think with a nisus to reflect on the good ol’ days more than I should … and as a long time photography buff (had my first darkroom when I was in 7th grade!) … that I would have been one of the first to participate in the Throwback Thursday trend? Nope … slow […]

Typical risk-off trades – DJIA ends 1st quarter 2015 in the red

| April 1, 2015

Watching the commodities today … particularly oil and precious metals. In the “classic risk off trade,” when stocks are selling off, gold rises (chart right – Business Insider). Looking a little more down the road, investment banks who follow crude oil futures see the price on a slow rise after a weak winter and spring. […]

The Mercedes Benz 300D Turbodiesel after a winter slumber

| April 1, 2015

For those of us who love diesels, the sweet sound of an old Mercedes Benz diesel idling is indeed a beautiful mechanical sound. Below is a very short clip of my 1982 300D Turbodiesel waking up after the winter of 2015 hibernation. Really it is just a filler post since it is a busy week […]

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog